Neighbors help Flagler Estates couple after home vandalized

While the residents were away, someone wrecked their house

Ronald Mattice, foreground, loads ruined furniture into a truck to be hauled to the county landfill with the help of Randy Donaldson and his son, Cody Donaldson, on Saturday. Mattice and his wife, Sheila McCarthy, returned home on Nov. 3 to find the back windows of their home broken out by vandals, with black mold growing inside, ruined furniture and rain-damaged walls and floors. Most of their belongings were either gone or destroyed. The furniture had been urinated and defecated on.

On Saturday, Sheila McCarthy holds up one of her most treasured possessions, a painting done by her late father that depicts him shoveling the street in front of their home in Massachusetts. Vandals broke into her home in Flagler Estates while she was in the hospital and destroyed or stole most of her possessions. "They ruined so many of my things," McCarthy said. "Out of all the things I had in there, this was the one thing I cared the most about, and I was so relieved to find it intact and undamaged. My father painted this years ago and it's very important to me."

Cheryl Donaldson, Ronald Mattice and Randy Donaldson haul ruined furniture out of Sheila McCarthy and Mattice's mobile home in Flagler Estates on Saturday. The couple returned home on Nov. 3 to find the back windows of their home broken out by vandals, with black mold growing inside, ruined furniture and rain-damaged walls and floors. Most of their belongings were either gone or destroyed. The furniture had been urinated and defecated on.

HASTINGS — When Sheila McCarthy came home from the hospital Nov. 3 and found that her home in Flagler Estates had been nearly destroyed by vandals and most of her belongings were either ruined or gone altogether, she was nearly devastated.

But after beating death more than once, she said she isn’t going to let this break her spirit.

“It was a shock, sure,” McCarthy, 55, said. “And I was extremely disheartened. But you know what? I’m a survivor. I’m not sure how we’re going to do it, but we’re going to recover from this.”

McCarthy and her husband, Ronald Mattice, had been away for months, first in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where Mattice manages a campground over the summer, then to a Veterans Affairs hospital in Richmond, Va., where McCarthy received a liver transplant.

The back windows of their mobile home had been broken out, walls and floors ruined, and their furniture had been urinated and defecated on, she said. Because of the broken windows, rain got in over several weeks, further damaging the home and bringing on a severe outbreak of black mold.

Looking through the rubble inside, McCarthy picked up one of her most treasured possessions, a painting done by her late father that depicts him shoveling the street in front of their home in Boston.

“They ruined so many of my things,” she said. “Out of all the things I had in there, this was the one thing I cared the most about, and I was so relieved to find it intact and undamaged. My father painted this years ago, and it’s very important to me. He painted it from a photo somebody took of him while he was shoveling, and it also shows the dog we had years ago.”

McCarthy, a Boston-born and -bred U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam era, looks healthy and vibrant today, but she has dealt with a series of medical problems in recent years that include cancer, liver disease, aneurysms and diabetes.

McCarthy said she and her husband were touched by the outpouring of sympathy expressed after a story about their situation ran in The St. Augustine Record last week.

On Saturday afternoon, several people came out to help out.

“We’re just doing what we can,” said Cheryl Donaldson, who brought her husband Randy and their children, Chuyenne, 14, and Cody, 12. “Nobody should have to deal with something like this.”

The Donaldsons helped Mattice haul away trashed items, which included all of the ruined furniture inside the home.

Also chipping in were Anita Spears, a longtime friend, who brought her daughter Tamara and Tamara’s boyfriend, Uriah Sharon.

Next to the mobile home is a family-sized tent, which is where the couple has been sleeping at night while the work goes on. Because the work could take months and winter is approaching, they plan to move into a 14-by-12-foot space in the adjacent utility shed.

With her recent health problems, McCarthy can’t be inside the mobile home for too long, and when she does go inside to work, she wears a mask and gloves.

Her husband just shakes his head when he looks at the damage.

“I just want to make a safe home for my wife,” said Mattice as he assembled a pressure washer in the back yard. “She shouldn’t even be going in there at all.”

Mattice said he was grateful for the help they’ve received, but he admitted that the couple would need a lot more.

“So many people have reached out already, which makes this a lot easier,” he said. “Working by ourselves, it would be very difficult to overcome this. Unfortunately, as I was dealing with the medical problems, we needed cash, so we had lowered our home insurance coverage. So we don’t know how much of the damage is covered.”

A relief fund has been established at Prosperity Bank to help the couple rebuild their home, McCarthy said.

“All my life I gave to others in our community only to have to resort to this,” she said. “Sometimes I feel so lost, but I will never give up. But people are really rallying, and the sense of community we have experienced so far has been unbelievable.”

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You can help

Those who want to help can go to any Prosperity Bank to donate to the “Building fund for Sheila McCarthy & Ron Mattice,” or they can mail donations to Prosperity Bank at P.O. Box 1313, Hastings, FL 32145.

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I have lived in Flagler Estates for 12 years and would like to say when I moved here the area didnt have the most savory reputation but the residents have worked hard to change that and make this area safe and secure. I dont know what kind of people would do something like this but it is evil and vile, what I do know is that my husband and I are willing to help them! My husband has tools and remodeling knowledge and I can help clean and paint. I feel so bad for these folks that their lives can be ruined by disgusting people, I want them to know that we arent all like that here. We would like to offer our help to you and need to know if you have a place to go for Thanksgiving dinner?

Hi Connie,
Wow don't meet many people that have been here this long. We moved here in 1998,when there wasn't much of anything. We both worked in the city & found this to be paradise. That is until a slum lord from St Augustine dropped a 40 year old mobile across the street from us & rented it out. Nightmare began in 2007 when some really unsavory people rented it & stayed in it until someone bought place & threw them out 2 months ago. My paradise became my prison. I lived in fear 24/7, but again I feel at peace out here as new neighbors are wonderful. I surely would love to take you up on offer to help. My email is sheilmcc@msn.com. We are heading to Palatka for Thanksgiving, but I would love to come say hi. All in all this is the most important Thanksgiving I have every celebrated. God has given me the gift of life after an 18.5 year struggle to make it through each day. We will rebuild this mess. I actually pity those that did this, they are such lost souls. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

and throw away the key. Too many people, including myself, are afraid to leave their residences for any extended length of time. Even for short trips, put a sign on your door, NO MONEY-NO PILLS-NO GUNS HERE. Might help, might not. Unfortunately, TRASH that have NOTHING, respect NOTHING, the low-life [filtered word] they are. (the world we live in)

I have lived in FE for over 13yrs. I find that more people know about the break in out here, because we discuss it & let others know. If you look at the county we are no higher then any other area.

I know alot of people are glad the roads got paved. Me for one wish they where not. I live on Allison and people just fly down the road. When you call FE for children playing or horse crossing signs you are blow off. We pay extra taxes out here and get nothing.